Macklemore, one half of the Macklemore & Ryan Lewis duo that have been throwing power-punch hits throughout the past year since the smash arrival of “Thrift Shop,” makes his first appearance on the cover of Rolling Stone in the latest issue. The cover story digs deep into the mind of Ben Haggerty, a.k.a. Macklemore, and his musical partner, Ryan Lewis – and leads to some sobering comments on white privilege in American pop culture.
Openly rejecting the notion that he’s the guy who makes “hip-hop for people who don’t like hip-hop,” Haggerty makes his feelings quite clear: “I hate that. I hate it. I mean…what are you going to do, but it’s just ignorance.”
His thoughts became much more concise on the issue of race, white privilege and the sense of safety parents feel having a sharp-looking white guy rapping to their kids. It’s a rampantly prevalent mindset throughout America, yet a taboo subject in the haze of illusion that we’ve achieved racial harmony in 2013. Here are his comments:
“If you’re going to be a white dude and do this shit, I think you have to take some level of accountability. You have to acknowledge where the art came from, where it is today, how you’re benefiting from it. At the very least, just bringing up those points and acknowledging that, yes, I understand my privilege, I understand how it works for me in society, and how it works for me in 2013 with the success that The Heist has had.
“We made a great album, but I do think we have benefited from being white and the media grabbing on to something. A song like “Thrift Shop” was safe enough for the kids. It was like, “This is music that my mom likes and that I can like as a teenager,” and even though I’m cussing my ass off in the song, the fact that I’m a white guy, parents feel safe. They let their six-year-olds listen to it. I mean it’s just…it’s different. And would that success have been the same if I would have been a black dude? I think the answer is no.”
Photo: Johnny Firecloud
